Expanding Financial Inclusion Through Digital Financial Services

Holti BANKA ** Experte senior du secteur financier, Banque mondiale. Contact : hbanka@worldbank.orgTous les auteurs de l'étude travaillent à la Banque mondiale. L'autrice correspondante est Leora Klapper. Les auteurs remercient Laura Starita pour son excellent soutien éditorial. Cette étude a été soutenue par le Groupe de recherche sur le développement de la Banque mondiale. Les opinions exprimées dans cet article ne reflètent pas nécessairement celles de la Banque mondiale, de ses directeurs exécutifs ou des pays qu'ils représentent.

Leora KLAPPER * Économiste en chef, Groupe de recherche sur le développement, Banque mondiale. Contact : lklapper@worldbank.org

Worldwide, account ownership increased by 50% in the 10 years spanning 2011 to 2021, reaching 76% of the global adult population. The goal of financial inclusion is not just for more adults to have accounts but for account owners to benefit from using them, for example, for digital payments, which provide a range of positive benefits that extend far beyond convenience. This paper reviews the evidence demonstrating how digital payments can expand financial inclusion among recipients and encourage the use of additional formal financial services, such as savings, credit and insurance. It explores how digital transactions offer greater security and privacy, especially for women, as well as opportunities to build a digital credit history for credit risk assessments. The introduction of digital payments to low-income adults brings some risks, however, such as fraud and phishing scams targeting accounts, over-indebtedness in digital credit, and customers receiving incomplete or incorrect information on the fees and costs of financial products.